Namaste all,
I had a curious experience yesterday that makes me wonder if God punishes people. I know that's a rather Abrahamic concept to bring up, but...I guess I'm asking because I'm seeking peace of mind, considering what happened yesterday.
As for what happened, last night I attempted to do a (very) simple puja to Ganesha. I'm nowhere near experienced enough to attempt to do anything elaborate. Basically, what I did was offer flowers and a couple pieces of fruit to the shrine of Ganesha I had set up, sat in front of it, and chanted a couple of mantras, 108 times each. The shrine looked like this (please pardon the giant picture, I know not how to shrink it):
And the mantras I chanted were "Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha" and "Om Shri Ganeshaya Namaha," in that order.
However, during my chanting of the second mantra, something...weird happened - I got a very sharp shock on the top left side of my head! It felt electrical in nature, like someone jabbed a taser or some other electrical prod into my skull...like that area got temporarily electrocuted. This needless to say made me stop the mantra chanting dead in its tracks, because it was so jarring, and afterwards, my heart was racing, as if I was afraid of something.
For some reason, the idea of Lord Ganesha punishing me was the first explanation that popped into my head. Did I do the puja wrong? Did I not do something properly beforehand? I honestly don't know.
If Lord Ganesha indeed sent that message as a punishment, then it's not a very clear message...and it's kind of a scary idea that one can be punished for worshipping improperly. My mind knows this most likely isn't the case, but on an emotional level, I'm still scared that it might be...
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